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Another day, another story about red wine being good for you. Today's happy news comes from scientific researchers at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, who have found that drinking at least one glass of red wine a week boosts fertility in women.

The research investigated how alcohol affects a woman’s ovarian reserve (the quantity, health and viability of her eggs). They found that five or more glasses of red wine a month had only a positive effect on women’s fertility.

The contributing component of red wine is believed to be resveratrol, an antioxidant also found in red grapes, blueberries and cocoa. Resveratrol works by suppressing molecules which cause inflammation as well as compounds in the blood which interfere with the production of insulin, and could also contribute to long life.

That's not all. The national Wine Research Institute has also recently extolled the virtues of a drop of red for cardiovascular health. "People that drink a moderate amount of wine regularly, particularly with food, have a 30 per cent reduced risk of heart diseases," said Creina Stockley. "Red wine is good for you in moderation – with one to two glasses a day there is a reduced risk of heart disease."

In truth, you probably already knew that vino can help your heart pound through its work – but did you know that the red stuff can also be good for your teeth, sharpen your mind, and keep you slim?

1. Smile – red wine is a dentist's friend

Drinkers often complain of ‘red wine mouth’, that vampire's grin you get after drinking to excess. However, research suggests red wine could actually be good for your teeth.

Spanish scientists dipped cultures of bacteria responsible for dental diseases into various liquids, and found that red wine was the most effective at removing the bacteria.

So, raise a glass and say cheers to a cavity free life.

2. It improves your balance

If you stumble after drinking red wine, you may be doing it wrong. An experiment on laboratory mice found a diet rich in resveratrol - a compound found in red wine - improved older mice’s balance over time.

"Our study suggests that a natural compound like resveratrol...could actually decrease some of the motor deficiencies that are seen in our aging population," the scientist who led the experiment told the American Chemical Society.

3. It keeps the bed bugs away

Bed bugs live off human blood - but they are less keen on the blood once the human in question has drunk a couple of glasses of red wine, according to research carried out at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the United States. Drinking more wine, then, could lead to fewer bug bites (or you could tackle the problem head on and try getting rid of the insects).

4. It keeps you mentally agile

People who drink a glass of red wine a day are less likely to develop dementia, especially Alzheimer's, according to a study conducted at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany.

The academics found that subjects who drank between two and three units a day were almost a third less likely to be showing signs of dementia at the end of a three-year-period than those who were teetotal.

5. It helps during childbirth

Don’t take my word for it: Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine,apparently prescribed wine to alleviate pain during childbirth - as well as lethargy and diarrhea.

6. It helps you keep weight off

Women who drink a moderate amount of alcohol with meals were found to have a lower risk of becoming overweight in middle age, according to a 2010 report in the Archives of Internal Medicine - with red wine-drinkers the least likely to become overweight.

The authors of the report noted that the women showed an increase in energy expenditure after drinking, which they suggested balanced out the additional calories in the alcoholic drink.

7. It makes you live longer

Research suggests resveratrol - which was thought to be responsible for the better balance in older mice - could help humans live longer lives, by suppressing molecules which cause inflammation as well as compounds in the blood which interfere with the production of insulin.

But, as with all these benefits, the advantage is only felt when wine is drunk in moderation.

8. It boosts fertility

Research in the US found that drinking at least one glass of red wine a week boosts fertility in women. The research investigated how alcohol affects a woman’s ovarian reserve (the quantity, health and viability of her eggs). They found that five or more glasses of red wine a month had only a positive effect on women’s fertility, the Times reported. The contributing component of red wine is, again, believed to be resveratrol.